NW Corridor Gains Beds, Services In Era of Hospital Super Projects

Eighteen hospitals in Arkansas are doing at least $2.4 million worth of new construction or renovations. Combined, their $592.6 million in projects will add more than 1.6 million SF of new or upgraded space to the state’s health care infrastructure.

Of those totals, 53.8 percent of the money ($319.2 million) and at least 42.9 percent of the space (705,100 SF) are being added in Northwest Arkansas and Harrison. Those tallies don’t even include the yet-to-be-determined SF for a new Sparks Regional Medical Center campus (see chart).

Plans for that Fort Smith facility have gained momentum through the formation of a joint venture. Publicly traded Triad Hospitals Inc. of Plano, Texas, will own an 80 percent stake in the development, with the balance owned by Sparks Community Foundation.

A year in the making, Sparks Regional Health System LLC should be launched by Nov. 1.

The construction totals also don’t include numerous smaller projects under way statewide, such as the $569,327 worth of remodeling ongoing at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville. That work includes facelifts for the facility’s 3,700-SF labor and delivery area and 5,500-SF geriatric clinic.

Proposals that are still in flux weren’t counted either. That could have added one of several scenarios at Siloam Springs Memorial Hospital, where everything from several expansion/renovation choices to a brand new complex is being considered. Estimates start at $3.7 million and top $11 million, depending on the scenario.

The massive $168.6 million project at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hasn’t broken ground yet, but the UAMS board has granted its approval.

Project Details

After UAMS, St. Mary’s Hospital in Rogers and the Sparks complex are the next largest.

The flagship property of Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas Inc., St. Mary’s is a $140 million undertaking that will add a 350,000-SF, 200-bed medical center and a 150,000-SF medical office building. The site is on the east side of Interstate 540 in the Pinnacle Hills area of west Rogers.

Ground was broken in September on the project, which is expected to open in June 2007.

The hospital’s current quarters at 1200 W. Walnut St. encompasses about 250,000 SF with 165 beds. Future uses for that property are uncertain.

“Right now, we don’t have any plans,” said Edward Mirzabegian, chief operating officer for St. Mary’s. “We’re looking at the possibilities.”

Among the options are nursing home, psychiatric hospital or educational facility.

The Sparks venture brings together Triad, the third-largest hospital company in the nation and operator of nine Arkansas facilities, and Sparks, which is among the largest and least profitable hospitals in the state.

Some services may stay put at the current 1.3 million-SF complex covering 98.2 acres when a new project comes on line.

Northwest Health System Inc. is in the middle of $15.2 million worth of new capital investments, only 17 months after opening its $63 million new Bentonville hospital. The work includes the addition of a cardiac catheterization lab in Bentonville, an ICU and 6,000 SF worth of private rooms. Changes in Springdale, which began in October, include the addition of a 31-bed medical/surgical unit and renovations of the main lobby, a nine-bed surgical ICU and the exterior of Tower I.

A $25 million patient tower will add 160,000 SF to North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison. Farther south, a $12.2 million expansion/upgrade development is under way at Johnson Regional Medical Center in Clarksville. And a $9 million surgical center should be open in January at Saline Memorial Hospital in Benton. The 32,000-SF structure will house six operating rooms, 10 pre-op beds, 10 acute recovery beds and 13 recovery beds.

“We’ve had to grow significantly to keep up with the demand for services,” said Jack Mitchell, chief executive officer at Saline Memorial.

The project will lead into the hospital’s golden anniversary in June.

The ever-expanding Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock is adding a combined 56,000 SF to its research institute and nutrition center. The $17.5 million project should be completed in April.

At Ouachita Medical Center in Camden, a $7.4 million construction/renovation project will result in a new and enlarged wing replacing an antiquated one.

New construction, scheduled for completion in July, will total 19,974 SF and result in 40 medical/surgical beds and eight intensive care beds. Renovation of 16,368 SF, scheduled for completion in February 2006, is tied to 22 medical/surgical beds; five labor, delivery, recovery and post partum beds; and four gynecology beds.